Hello THF, I look around several forums and websites, and you guys seem to know best so I want to ask for your advices. Basically I want to know the best upgrade and overclock I can get on lowest budget possible. Games not important, I need stable for content creation like photoshop + blender + video encoding + soundbooth since I study multimedia and graphics design.
My cool story - I find this old computer Compaq Presario on clearance for $100 like 2 years ago, I dont have much monies at all so its the best I can get at the time. Basically the important pieces are Athlon64 X2 (2 Ghz) and 1GB RAM (200 Mhz DDR2). Not bad I guess considering it was a complete system with dvd burner and integrated video, audio, networking, keyboard and mouse so it was functional and great price. I add another stick of RAM very cheap and it allows me to do my work.
So, a few months ago the PSU died, and took the motherboard along with it. I needed an emergency good cheap replacement/upgrade so I get Gigabyte MA-785GM-US2H and 400W PSU. Its a good price and allows me to keep all the other existing CPU and RAM and now I have AM2+/AM3 socket so now I have upgrade options.
First upgrade I made was some 4GB Kingston PC8500 (I work part time at Fry's so I buy all my stuff there with my discount which really helps since I don't have a credit card for online shopping).... Although I think my system is not configured correctly since my memory is only 800 Mhz not 1066 ....
SO anyway I need to ditch this ancient CPU and find something that is cheap and overclock it as much as possible. (did I mention i'm broke) ... I've read the forums and tried to find a good consensus but I'm having a hard time deciding because every dollar really counts alot. So I want to put the question to all the techies here and ask - what would you do in this situation? Ditching the system and starting over is not an option. I only have like $100/month budget (maybe $150) to bring my computer into the modern age. Video games are the last priority although it would be nice to play something newer than 10 years old :lol: Mostly I need to do my digital content creations as my top priority.
Should I get the Phenom 1100T ??? Or is there a cheaper alternative? I really think I'll need 6 cores.... Or not.... Is 4 cores good enough? I heard that it's possible to unlock hidden cores on a 960T ??? is it worth the gamble? Which processor gives the best overclock for the buck? Is stock cooling good enough or will I need a new HS/F? Arctic Silver is a necessity or can I use this Cooler Master paste that I have now? (I don't want to spend even $5 if I dont have to)... also will I need a new PSU? My CPU is currently using 25W and I see that these new CPU's use up to 125W
SO as you can see, lots of questions and very little money to work with HELP ME THF !!!!
My cool story - I find this old computer Compaq Presario on clearance for $100 like 2 years ago, I dont have much monies at all so its the best I can get at the time. Basically the important pieces are Athlon64 X2 (2 Ghz) and 1GB RAM (200 Mhz DDR2). Not bad I guess considering it was a complete system with dvd burner and integrated video, audio, networking, keyboard and mouse so it was functional and great price. I add another stick of RAM very cheap and it allows me to do my work.
So, a few months ago the PSU died, and took the motherboard along with it. I needed an emergency good cheap replacement/upgrade so I get Gigabyte MA-785GM-US2H and 400W PSU. Its a good price and allows me to keep all the other existing CPU and RAM and now I have AM2+/AM3 socket so now I have upgrade options.
First upgrade I made was some 4GB Kingston PC8500 (I work part time at Fry's so I buy all my stuff there with my discount which really helps since I don't have a credit card for online shopping).... Although I think my system is not configured correctly since my memory is only 800 Mhz not 1066 ....
SO anyway I need to ditch this ancient CPU and find something that is cheap and overclock it as much as possible. (did I mention i'm broke) ... I've read the forums and tried to find a good consensus but I'm having a hard time deciding because every dollar really counts alot. So I want to put the question to all the techies here and ask - what would you do in this situation? Ditching the system and starting over is not an option. I only have like $100/month budget (maybe $150) to bring my computer into the modern age. Video games are the last priority although it would be nice to play something newer than 10 years old :lol: Mostly I need to do my digital content creations as my top priority.
Should I get the Phenom 1100T ??? Or is there a cheaper alternative? I really think I'll need 6 cores.... Or not.... Is 4 cores good enough? I heard that it's possible to unlock hidden cores on a 960T ??? is it worth the gamble? Which processor gives the best overclock for the buck? Is stock cooling good enough or will I need a new HS/F? Arctic Silver is a necessity or can I use this Cooler Master paste that I have now? (I don't want to spend even $5 if I dont have to)... also will I need a new PSU? My CPU is currently using 25W and I see that these new CPU's use up to 125W
SO as you can see, lots of questions and very little money to work with HELP ME THF !!!!